Generally, a press device having a series of metal molds is configured such that each metal mold is arranged every pitch by which a workpiece is conveyed. There are many cases where an idle step exists at a position of the press device without a metal mold such that a workpiece remains idle, before the workpiece is conveyed to a next step.
The idle step requires guides so as to appropriately maintain the position and orientation of a workpiece. In order to appropriately maintain the position and orientation of the workpiece, the guides must be changed according to the kind of workpiece.
Thus, the prior art needs work for replacing the guides used in the idle step through manual labor to be suitable for a workpiece.
Meanwhile, when two workpieces are simultaneously formed by one metal mold, the two workpieces are conveyed from one step to another step while being positioned very near each other. As such, the workpieces, conveyed while being adjacent to each other, may undesirably collide in a discharge conveyor or the like. Further, it is difficult to load workpieces.